Lykke Li
Wounded rhymes
EMI/LL Recordings
It's hard to cover this record since Mattias Alkberg already wrote the definitive review, but I'll do my best to sum up my thoughts without adding too much extraneous noise to the discussion. Though I wouldn't consider myself much of a Lykke Li fan, her debut album "Youth novels" had a cute, bright-eyed naivety that was undeniably charming and it wasn't hard to see why so many people made a big fuss over it. Now that she's an established artist, she's trying to position herself as a someone who's far more self-aware and serious and, frankly, I'm having a very hard time meeting her on that level. As much as she may feel authentically world-weary, it comes across as a bit of a put-on -- a different kind of youthful naivety that's far less appealing. My biggest problem with the record however, is that it has no sense of fun. A few solid tunes, sure, but more often than not it's a joyless trudge and, as much as that may reflect her mood while writing it, it doesn't compel repeated listens.
- Avi Roig
